Zimmerman needs salve, own salvos

Former South Bend school superintendent Joan Raymond went out like a lion, and her replacement, Robert Zimmerman, comes in ... well, at least with a smile on his face. He has big shoes to fill -- shoes that were known to step on toes. That said, Raymond did accomplish a lot of good things during her tenure. Test scores went up a little on the ISTEP (partly because "teaching to the test" became a way of life in the corporation), facilities were improved, a reorganization of the schools seemed to go fairly smoothly, and budget problems were addressed. She generally worked well with the school board, not always a small feat. And to her credit, she was a tireless worker who accomplished some goals by the sheer will of her personality. That's the good side of her reign -- and that's a pretty big mouthful of accomplishments. Now the other side: Graduation rates have not improved -- how can only 50 percent of our kids get through high school? -- discipline remains a problem, and morale within the teaching ranks is low. Raymond also wanted to control just about everything, including what was said and how it was said. She ended up being a bottleneck for any news coming out of the school system, including the good news. My harshest criticism is that she treated many good people within her ranks poorly. I'm hoping Zimmerman can come in and soothe some of the feelings that now exist in the corporation while also continuing the progress that Raymond made in many areas. That's a tall order. Public education seems to have become the whipping boy -- or girl -- of far too many politicians and parents in recent years. In her farewell letter to her staff, Raymond hit upon this subject when she wrote: "These are not easy times for public education. The accountability movement, high stakes testing, political pressures, unfunded mandates, and unrealistic benchmarks for student achievement make it more and more difficult for us to truly make a difference in the lives of children. "As I retire from the superintendency in South Bend, and from public education after 50 years of service, I do so with bewilderment for what public schools in this country are expected to accomplish." Raymond is right. It is bewildering. As I have written before, the schools already are to feed the needy, educate and inspire both the brilliant and challenged, keep them occupied with worthwhile after-school activities and overcome a lot of poor parenting out there. And yet our society continues to pass along much of the blame for our society's ills to our schools. It is a little sad to see Raymond, who dedicated her life to bettering education, leave somewhat bewildered after all those years of service. She really did fight the good fight. It's just unfortunate that she didn't treat her troops a little better along the way. Now it's Zimmerman's turn. In my opinion (and here is where I need to say that my wife, sister and mother have all been teachers), a superintendent's first responsibility should be to make sure that the classroom educators have what they need to make a difference in their young pupils' lives. And that should include a sense of worth. Raymond left without much fanfare but was making decisions and moving around people to the very end. Zimmerman watched all this from his office at the deserted Studebaker School. It's time for some salve -- and for his own salvos against the negativity toward public education. Your turn, Zimmy. And welcome to South Bend. Bill Moor's column appears on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Contact him at bmoor@sbtinfo.com, or write him at the South Bend Tribune, 225 W. Colfax Ave., South Bend, IN 46626; (574) 235-6072.